California 2 Puerto Rico

We are narrowing down our surf trip destination options to Central America and Mexico. It is peak swell season there during July/August and the airfare and accommodations are going to be much less costly because it is not tourist season. I would really like to go to Indo with all of our friends, but I think that is going to prove to be too expensive for us this year.

I spoke with one of the guys at the poker game on Monday night about our possible plans of going to Puerto Escondido and he gave it two thumbs up! He said that the beach break gets pretty heavy and that it isn’t a beginner wave but there is a left point break that can accommodate all levels of surfing. After checking out the surf maps, it definitely looks like a cool spot to check go. Flying in seems a little tough, but it is my understanding that Mexicana flies into Puerto Escondido once a day 7 days a week. The airport is just a few kilometers from town. There is also another airport in a town called Huatulco that gets service from Houston Texas. That town is about an hour and a half from Puerto Escondido by taxi.

I also really like the idea of Nicaragua. The winds blow offshore there 360 days a year, it picks up good south swells during the rainy season and Summer and I may be able to talk some friends that live in Costa Rica into driving up and hanging out for a family vacation. The downside of Nicaragua for me so far is the lack of information for regular surfers. All of the Vacation rentals are either 2 bedroom condos in big developments or accommodations targeting Big Timers which cost a minimum of $150 a night. There is no way we are going to drop $3,000 for about 2 weeks in Nicaragua. We could score Indo for that price. Does anyone have any good suggestions for Nicaragua? Remember, we need high speed Internet.

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I know what you were thinking when you read the title to this post. Summer and Stefan are planning a surf trip? They live in a place people take surf trips to! Well, I’m not one to argue that point with you in the winter time, but come summer (rainy season), the swells hitting Rincon (created by the wintertime low pressure systems marching across the states) stop hitting the North West part of the island and Rincon goes from a bustling surf destination to a quiet, tropical paradise for snorkelers. Now, Summer and I both love snorkeling, but we also love surfing and deserve a vacation.

So, here I am, researching a surf trip that Summer and I can take this Summer. We want to go somewhere neither of us has been to yet. We are open to suggestions if you have any for us. The only pre-requisite for a destination is that it must have hi-speed Internet access. Either of us can take the time off from work, so we will be bringing our computers with us.

Here are a few Surf Trip Ideas
• Indonesia
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Mainland Mexico
• Canary Islands (not Tenerife)

We have some really close friends that are going to Kandui Resort in Indo for two weeks in July. The resort looks absolutely insane. Aside from all the world class waves a short boat ride away from the island, they only allow a certain amount to surfers on the island at a time (limits the amount of people surfing) AND it has high speed Internet.

I have also been doing a bunch of research on Mainland Mexico, specifically Puerto Escondido. I found a cool vacation rental that has high speed Internet, close to the beach, the grocery stores and the waves there are insane. Also, we would be able to put our conversational Spanish to good use and it would be a very budget conscious trip, which is good. I’d like to blow the rest of my money on the house and our trip to Colorado in August.

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I really have enjoyed our short, cold, high traffic expensive visit to San Diego.

• I caught some really good waves in La Jolla the first few days and one short lived great beach break session in Oceanside (Water Temp=52 degrees).
• Bristol Farms Grocery Store - I spent $60 getting Summer and I sushi, ahi poke, oranges and some pre-made mashed potatoes!
• Whole Foods - Delicious salad bar with everything you could imagine
• Delicious Sushi
• Enjoyed drinking red wine that was not refrigerated
• Summer got PRK LASIK Surgery (more on that later)
• We hung out with some friends and had sushi
• I watched Cable Television! (even with 600 channels there is nothing on)
• Hung out in Little Italy with Josh for a Hoegaarden beer (or two)
• Saw Shawns house (that is under construction…he’s not building his himself)
• Hung out with Robin and Gary for Gary’s Birthday (Summer mom and mom’s husband)
• Hung out with Shawn at his place in UTC
• Wend to In and Out Burger!

More on this In and Out place for those of you who don’t know how special it really is. In and Out burger is a family owned fast food restaurant with no plans of franchising or going public. Their food is simple as is their business philosophy; “Give customers the freshest, highest quality foods you can buy and provide them with friendly service in a sparkling clean environment.” They only have four things on their menu: Hamburger, French Fries, Soda, Milkshakes. But, if you know the inside dilly, you may order a double double, animal style like I did last night (Two patties with fried onions). You can also order anything protein style and they will give you the burger wrapped in lettuce with no bun.

I stay away from fast food (minus SubWay) but I always hit up In and Out Burger when I am in San Diego.

I like In and Out Burger

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It really is nice to be back in California for a couple of days. I think it is just healthy to get off of the island and away from the construction site. It clears out all of the tropical cobwebs and I really haven’t thought of the house work that needs to be done once.

This is our third day in town and I haven’t gotten anything accomplished that I came here to do. BUT, today is the day I start getting those things done. Up until today I have been surfing until lunch (overhead and good both days (52 degree water is a shocker) and then working, squeezing in dinner and then succumbing to the jet lag and going to sleep.

Last night, Summer and I went out to dinner together for some Sushi. San Diego really does have the best Sushi.

Yum Yum Sushi (and the booze isn’t bad either)

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Summer and I packed up all of our stuff (that we are brining to California) and headed to the airport this morning. Eddie and his two girls are watching the house, the two dogs, the cat (name to be announced momentarily), the lawn, the new plants, the Bronco and the Toyota. Along with the above mentioned family we left in Puerto Rico, we will also be adding to our family the following: Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Squash, Potatoes, sunflowers, more grass and 8 meters of topsoil. Eddie loves plants and has a HUGE green thumb. We are so stoked.

I haven’t been out of Puerto Rico (aside from a short trip in June to California for court) since I moved down at the end of April. It feels a little weird to leave the island. Half of me would rather be going on a surf trip somewhere to relax than back to California, but Summer and I have tons of stuff we have to take care of in San Diego and she is getting me more and more excited with her talk of restaurants that have Non-Fried options on the menu, Whole Foods Grocery Store and Trader Joe’s.

Speaking of Food, I was told by the second rudest employee of Jet Blue I have ever met that Puerto Rican food is actually Spanish and that all Puerto Ricans are Spanish. She went on to denounce her being a Puerto Rican and claimed that she was Spanish because Puerto Rico speaks “Espanol”. This rude behavior is so typical of a NY flight attendant that hates her job. Summer said I should have asked her if Mexicans were Spanish too, after all, they speak Espanol. If I weren’t such a happy guy, I may have proverbially bitch slapped this grumpy Jet Blue Flight Attendant, but instead I let it go, plotting a new blog question to our readers…here goes:

If you were born and raised in Puerto Rico, are you Puerto Rican or Spanish?

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It seems when people come to town we make the same rounds to the same places; all of which are relaxing to Summer and I but brand new exciting experiences for our guests. It kinda makes it more fun, watching the reactions of our friends as we do the same ole same ole and they are in awe of the beauty, flavor or even ridiculousness of a situation.

We took Conner and Dianne to the waterfalls outside of Rincon in San Sebastian on their last full day here. The drive out there (only about 30 minutes from Rincon) was quite uneventful and we found it without a hitch. It will be much easier to find for tourists now that there is a new landmark to look for; there is a brand new Walgreen’s at the light where you need to turn left to get to the waterfalls in San Sebastian.

As usual, the trail down the hill was treacherous and slippery. It is only about a quarter mile to the river from the parking spot on the side of the road but the hike usually takes about 20 minutes due to all of the negotiating through mud and slippery exposed roots. I like to wear shoes for this part of the trip because it gives me better footing, but whatever you wear will get muddy and will need a good cleaning when you get home.

I was the only one wearing sneakers so I was able to maneuver quickly and basically played the photographer the entire time. I was setting up to take a picture of Summer and Dianne climbing over this one tree when Dianne slipped and would have fallen down if Summer hadn’t caught her. I just so happened to take the picture mid fall. ASR, here I come.

Action! Good catch Summer

Once we got down to the waterfall, we took the opportunity to shoot some prom photos. The rain forest and the beautiful waterfall make for great photos our families can put on the mantles above their fireplaces. The shots we took turned out pretty good.

Conner and Dianne Irwin in Puerto Rico at the Waterfall

Summer and I posing for our aquatic prom picture

As soon as we finished up with the prom pictures, conner and I hopped in the chilly water and went right to the waterfall to start our climb up. Say what you want, I probably deserve the ridicule, but I don’t like jumping off of this thing from the high jumps. You either need to clear about 15ft out from the rocks or you have to stand directly underneath one of the streams pouring over the side in order to get a safe jump. I have enough fun surfing…but regardless, I had to show Conner the jump spots in case he wanted to go.

Showing Conner where to jump

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Summer and I have been looking around Puerto Rico for furniture since we moved down here. We weren’t necessarily planning on buying anything at the time, but we were getting an idea of what was going to be available to us. Just like in California, there are a lot of junky furniture store that sell poor quality particle wood furniture. Keep in mind, particle wood does not last in the islands. It gets attacked instantly by the high humidity and the ravenous termites.

We found a really cool couch at Rooms to Go as well as the vanity in our bathroom…but I didn’t see any bedroom sets that I liked. I really am convinced that buying a bedroom set from a big furniture company is the wrong path to take. I would love to slowly furnish the house with killer furniture from our travels and explorations of the world. We can scoop up antique mail desks in Rome, hand woven Tibetan rugs from Nepal, authentic statues of Buddha in Thailand and teak furniture from Bali!

POP

That was the little dream bubble popping over my head. There is no way Summer and I will live in a half furnished house for the next 5 years especially since my world travel so far this year has been limited to a 5 day trip to Oklahoma City and a 10 day visit to San Diego for some legal stuff.

OK, with all this said, Summer and I still need to furnish our house. I found a bed online that I like that is hand made out of teak in Bali. It isn’t expensive, but the shipping costs more than our new truck. I don’t necessarily like the head board, but I really like the simplicity of the frame and legs. I think I could build this King Size Platform Bed. Maybe I could find some “How To” instructions online as far as recommendations go on how to fasten the corners and legs on so it is super sturdy.

Teak King Size Platform Bed

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Summer has been back in California all week taking care of business related stuff. She leaves San Diego today. She arrives in Aguadilla tomorrow. Check out the beautiful purple nail polish (provided by 2.5 year old Isabella Buondano) she was sporting at Villa Cofresi in Rincon before she left.

Stefan & Summer - Self Portrait

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Great news everyone! I just dialed in our Google Calendar to work on www.ca2pr.com so you can check out when we have visitors here and when you can come visit. Reserve your days for your Puerto Rico vacation by going to the Calendar page, check availability and shoot us an email. We’ll go ahead and update the calendar so everyone will see that you are going to be here…

Disclaimer: Must like warm weather, good surf, beer and dogs

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I’m looking at flights to fly back to Puerto Rico, and it looks like JetBlue is about to make the flight from San Diego, California to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico a whole lot easier. Currently, this is my only choice in flight patterns:

12:30 PM - Depart - San Diego, CA (SAN)
8:59 PM - Arrive - New York, NY (JFK)
11:50 PM - Depart - New York, NY (JFK)
3:39 AM - Arrive - Aguadilla, PR (BQN)(next day)

Total travel time, including layover in NY: 12 hours, 9 minutes.

It appears that starting October 31st, JetBlue is offering a red eye to Puerto Rico:

9:10 PM - Depart - San Diego, CA (SAN)
5:20 AM - Arrive - New York, NY (JFK)
6:00 AM - Depart - New York, NY (JFK)
9:38 AM - Arrive - Aguadilla, PR (BQN)(next day)

Total travel time, including layover in NY: 9 hours, 28 minutes.

This new schedule is way better, as it not only shaves 3 hours off the travel time, but your flight also arrives in Puerto Rico at a decent hour: 9:30am. Flying into Puerto Rico at 3:30am, sucks. 3:30am is just a little too late to stay up to pick someone up at the airport and a little too early to be ready to wake up for the day. Plus, arriving a 3:30am screws up your internal clock just enough to ruin your entire 1st day in Puerto Rico. Whenever I arrive on the 3:30am plane, I always go to bed right as the sun comes up and would prefer to sleep all day. It’s annoying. Which is why I’m happy to hear about the new flight pattern that JetBlue will be offering. Of course, the new flight pattern is offered 2 days too late for me…oh well, at least we won’t have to pick up visitors at the airport at 3:30am any more

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